Texas Penal Code section 16.02 (interception, use or disclosure of wire, oral or electronic communications)
Law. Placed at Texas. Read 30 Sep 2026; 3 provisions cited by the planner.
What does Tex. Penal Code 16.02 require?
A person commits an offence by intentionally intercepting, trying to intercept, or getting someone else to intercept or try to intercept any wire, oral or electronic communication. Also cited: s 16.02(c)(4), private persons: intercept or record only as a party or with one party's prior consent, and never to further an aim outside the law; s 16.02(b)(2) and (3), do not disclose or use the contents of a communication known or suspected to have been unlawfully intercepted.
Tex. Penal Code s 16.02(b)(1)Do not intentionally intercept, or procure another to intercept, a wire, oral or electronic communication A person commits an offence by intentionally intercepting, trying to intercept, or getting someone else to intercept or try to intercept any wire, oral or electronic communication. Interception covers telephone calls, in-person conversations captured by a device, and email, messaging and network traffic in transit. An offence under this subsection is a second-degree felony.
Tex. Penal Code s 16.02(c)(4)Private persons: intercept or record only as a party or with one party's prior consent, and never to further an aim outside the law It is an affirmative defence that a person not acting under colour of law intercepted a wire, oral or electronic communication while a party to it, or where one of the parties had given prior consent, unless the interception served an unlawful aim. This is Texas's one-party consent rule. A business relying on it must be a genuine party (for example, through a recording announcement that makes the company a participant to the call, or an employee who is on the call) or hold prior consent from a participant.
Tex. Penal Code s 16.02(b)(2) and (3)Do not disclose or use the contents of a communication known or suspected to have been unlawfully intercepted It is an offence to intentionally disclose, or try to disclose, what a wire, oral or electronic communication contained, knowing or having reason to know it was obtained by unlawful interception, and to intentionally use such contents while knowing or being reckless as to whether they were unlawfully obtained. Investigators, HR and legal teams who receive a recording from a third party must therefore establish how it was made before relying on it.